Evidence
8 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-8).
-
[1]research packet ke-packet.md (4 sources cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-richard-w-suesens-de342-pkt-ke-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, Richard W. Suesens (DE-342) (namesake, builder, dates, full service narrative, striking and sale; verbatim transcription - live NHHC page serves 404) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, specifications block + full service narrative (hazegray mirror)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: laid down 1 November 1943 by Consolidated Steel Co., Ltd., Orange, Tex.; launched 11 January 1944, sponsored by Mrs. R. W. Suesens; commissioned 26 April 1944. Pacific service 1944-45: escort-carrier screen (Taffy 2) during the Leyte landings and the Battle off Samar; Lingayen Gulf operation 9-12 January 1945 (kamikaze crashed into the sea alongside after skimming the after 40mm gun - 11 crew injured, minor hull damage, while rescuing Gilligan DE-508 survivors); Nasugbu landings 31 January; radar/AA picket at Kerama Retto-Okinawa; East China Sea minesweeping cover July-August 1945; occupation support at Wakayama-Wakanoura, Japan, through October 1945. Inactivation at San Diego from 21 November 1945; in commission, in reserve, March 1946; decommissioned 15 January 1947, San Diego Group, Pacific Reserve Fleet (later Stockton); struck from the Navy list 15 March 1972; sold 13 June 1973 to National Metal and Steel Corp., Terminal Island, Calif. Five battle stars for World War II.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1973
- Population
- Consolidated Steel construction trades 1943-44 (Orange, TX); wartime crew (design complement 222)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history, dates, and specifications - not materials or asbestos content. Mirror transcription cited because the live NHHC DANFS page (history.navy.mil/.../richard-w-suesens.html, the URL Navsource links) returns 404 - the standing NHHC link-rot defect noted in BATCH-01.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-richard-w-suesens-de342-01
-
[3]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, Vol. 1 (Jan 1945), DE design-group 6 (WGT) table (shipscribe.com scan) + Navypedia WGT boiler-block map [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB1945v1 pp. 234-235 design-group table row 6; Navypedia us_de_tev_wgt boiler-block map (DE339-372 = Combustion Engineering)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design inference: DE-342 is a BuShips design-group-6 (WGT) destroyer escort - two 'D' express boilers (435 psi/750F; Combustion Engineering for the DE-339-372 block per the Navypedia boiler map), two Westinghouse geared turbines, 12,000 shp, 24.3 kt design. A full superheated-steam plant of 1943-44 construction carries the era-standard asbestos applications: boiler and turbine insulation, steam-line lagging between fireroom and machinery spaces, valve and flange gaskets, machinery packing, fireproofing, and deck coverings.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1947
- Population
- Construction trades (Orange, TX, 1943-44); fireroom/engine-room watch-standers 1944-47
- Limitations
- Class/era and design-group inference only - NOT a hull-specific finding. No material schedule, construction report, or insulation list for this hull was located; does not quantify material or establish any individual's exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-richard-w-suesens-de342-02
-
[4]NavSource Online DE-342 page: building/operational timeline, commanding officers, NH 95554 photo credit, and scans of the ship's official War History (images/342/06342wh.jpg); plus transcribed wartime action report WGT/DE342/A9/A16 serial 005 (3 Feb 1945, Nasugbu operation) from NARA records [other_primary]
- Locator
- navsource.org/archives/06/342.htm (war history scan images/342/06342wh.jpg); action report serial WGT/DE342/A9/A16 no. 005 of 3 Feb 1945 (transcription: batangashistory.date)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Ship-specific primary documents exist but were not fully retrieved this session: the ship's own War History submitted at war's end (scanned on NavSource), NARA-series action reports for the Lingayen/Nasugbu operations (the 3 Feb 1945 report is transcribed at a regional-history site and describes the 12 Jan 1945 kamikaze damage and 11 wounded), and 1944-47 deck logs at NARA. These are the correct pulls for maintenance-damage and yard-availability detail.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1944-1947 (documents)
- Population
- Wartime crew 1944-45
- Limitations
- Archival leads only - the war-history scan is image-only and the action-report transcription was read on a secondary site rather than the NARA scan; none of these documents was reviewed for insulation/materials content, which wartime operational reports typically do not record.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-richard-w-suesens-de342-03
-
[5]CourtListener API v4 (authenticated, fleet-paced): exact-name queries '"Richard W. Suesens"' returned zero opinions and zero dockets; '"DE-342"' hull-number queries returned 13 opinions and 166 dockets, all classified as identifier collisions - see search_ledger [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-richard-w-suesens-de342-04 through -06
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying asbestos litigation naming USS Richard W. Suesens or DE-342 was located in CourtListener opinion or docket indexes. The name is distinctive and produced zero collisions; every '"DE-342"' hit is a PACER docket-entry-number reference ('[DE 342 in Case No. ...]', 'per DE #342', 'SEE DE 342') in unrelated dockets - bankruptcies, sealed-document motions, and other civil litigation - none vessel-related, none asbestos.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2026-09-28
- Limitations
- A zero-hit docket sweep is not proof that no claim was ever filed - many asbestos filings settle or are resolved at docket level without indexed opinions, and RECAP coverage is incomplete for older state-court removals. Establishes only that no indexed qualifying case was found.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-richard-w-suesens-de342-04
-
[6]Destroyer History Foundation, John C. Butler-class page (unit commendations: 'Richard W. Suesens received the Navy Unit Commendation for action in the Leyte, Lingayen Gulf, Manila Bay-Bicol and Okinawa Gunto operations in 1944 and 1945') and Orange, Texas builder page (Consolidated yard built 12 Fletchers, 102 DEs, and Gearings; peak employment 20,000) [other_primary]
- Locator
- destroyerhistory.org/de/johncbutlerclass/ commendations list; /destroyers/orange builder page; /de/ussrichardwsuesens_nuc/ page
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Secondary historical-foundation record: credits this hull with a Navy Unit Commendation for the Leyte, Lingayen Gulf, Manila Bay-Bicol, and Okinawa Gunto operations of 1944-45 (not stated in DANFS, which lists five battle stars); documents the builder yard's wartime scale (102 destroyer escorts completed at Orange, peak ~20,000 employees).
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1944-1945
- Population
- Wartime crew
- Limitations
- Secondary compilation (Destroyer History Foundation), not an official award record - the NUC text on the foundation's page is image-based and was not transcribed; award should be verified against NHHC awards records before production use. No materials or asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-richard-w-suesens-de342-05
-
[7]Los Angeles Times, 'Port Bedeviled by Pollution Sins of the Past' (1991-08-17): Port of Los Angeles litigation over contamination at the former National Metal and Steel Corp. leasehold, Terminal Island [reputable_press]
- Locator
- LA Times 1991-08-17, Port of LA leaseholder-contamination story
- Finding type
- environmental_record
- Finding
- The yard that scrapped this hull (National Metal and Steel Corp., Terminal Island - the former California Shipbuilding property) is documented in reputable press as the subject of a Port of Los Angeles contamination dispute: a county-supervised cleanup of heavy metals and PCBs on the former scrapyard site, with the port seeking recovery of a $12M cleanup tab from NM&S. Documents where this hull was dismantled and that the dismantling site was later found contaminated.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1973-1991
- Population
- NM&S scrapping workers 1973-74 (context); terminal redevelopment
- Limitations
- Yard-level context only: the documented contaminants were heavy metals and PCBs - the source makes no asbestos finding for the yard or for this hull's 1973-74 dismantling. Ship-breaking an asbestos-era hull in 1973 is exposure-relevant in principle, but this row establishes nothing about asbestos aboard DE-342 or exposures during her scrapping.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-richard-w-suesens-de342-06
-
[8]Jack v. Borg-Warner Morse Tec LLC, W.D. Wash. No. 2:17-cv-00537 - pretrial/exhibit-list materials naming USS Brannon (DE-446, John C. Butler class) and identifying the Navy insulation-specification suite [court_record]
- Locator
- ECF 738 att. 1 (pretrial order/exhibit list); per class-profile ev-john-c-butler-class-03/-04
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Class-level litigation context: pretrial materials in Jack v. Borg-Warner Morse Tec name sister ship USS Brannon (DE-446) and recite the era's controlling insulation specifications - BuShips Manual ch. 39 Thermal Insulation (NAVSHIPS 250-000(39), 24 Aug 1945); Navy Dept spec 32F3a 'Felt, Insulating, Asbestos' (15 Oct 1945); BuEng General Specifications for Machinery S39-1 (3 Feb 1939) and ch. 13 'Instructions Relative to Heat Insulation' (1933/1939); BUMED Code-55 memo (9 Jun 1977). The exhibit list records the litigation theory that evaporator insulation aboard DEs was Navy-specified, with the defense position that non-asbestos insulation was possible aboard the named hull.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- Service era WWII/postwar; litigation 2017-2019
- Population
- Class context: machinist's mate aboard USS Brannon DE-446
- Limitations
- Pretrial-order/exhibit-list level for a DIFFERENT hull (DE-446) - included as class context and to record the spec-suite archival leads; establishes nothing about materials aboard DE-342. Unadjudicated pleading-stage material.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-richard-w-suesens-de342-07